In Spring 2014, the New York Times Digital Innovation report presented a compelling assessment of the challenges facing the paper in light of increasing competition from digital news sources. Readers of the report quickly realized that its analysis of the digital landscape and recommendations for organizational changes were relevant far beyond the confines of journalism or the NYT. In fact, the report’s authors had produced an astute and highly-readable analysis of the challenges and opportunities faced by many established and high-performing organizations that are struggling with the pace and feel and fluidity of the digital economy.

In this show, originally aired on September 9, Advancement Live Host Andrew Gossen discussed the Digital Innovation report with a distinguished trio of guests: Stanford’s Adam Miller, TCU’s Harmonie Farrow, and Oberlin’s Ma’ayan Plaut. The conversation traced parallels between the report’s findings and the state of higher ed Advancement, examining issues including organizational culture, staffing, data, platforms, and the competitive landscape. It takes courage to undertake a dispassionate and systematic analysis of an organization’s strengths and weaknesses, but the long-term payoff of pivoting to a digital-first footing may be substantial.

Your comments around 32:00 hit the nail on the head. We need to find the best and most flexible solutions in each category of tools (the best email platform, the best CRM, the best event registration service, etc.) but invest internally in talent to build bridges between these systems to get the data flowing in both directions. As long as we choose systems with solid APIs, it’s possible. The problem is that, typically, the kinds of “enterprise” solutions we have in place have terrible APIs, if they have any at all. They want you to buy one of their other products that they claim will seamlessly integrate, but rarely do.